I have been doing about 4 clockwise turns in of HSN and slight 1/8 adjustments from there to get it right. I think I have HSN figured out but, LSN I'm not sure it's either that or the idle screw. I have the idle screw set so that it doesn't quit when I brake but, when I try to lean out the LSN to get more power the wheels start turning real fast, engine starts reving so I have to reduce throttle trim on radio. From here I try to mess with the idle screw to close it a little maybe it's open too much when I adjust this the engine will start reving less and tires will stop spinning but then I press the brake engine quits.

The thing is that a customer came in today about his shockwave he said it wasn't going fast, and so I took a look at it, I didn't adjust his LSN, it's probably set at default since he's new and I can tell he didn't read or follow the directions, no rubberband/tape around batteries in car, no filter oil on filter. I saw his HSN looked too far out seemed rich so before I even turned it on, I flushed it out then turned it in 4 clockwise turns. Well, when I started it and it did a test run, that thing flew! I mean there wasn't even a ramp kind of like a round bump in the road and it seemed to have caught air, it was flying. Of the 2 rc cars that I've tried to tune I never got it to go that fast. Also his throttle/idle was set properly since when I started it, I adjusted the trim to middle and tires stopped spinning.

I'm pretty sure then he must have not even set the idle screw and left it as is, so on my next one I'm thinking to leave LSN and throttle at default then just adjust HSN, keep it at rich throughout break-in then lean it out 4 clockwise turns like I did his.

Can you guys share what your optimal settings are for LSN/HSN and idle screw? I suppose it would be kind of difficult to explain how many turns to do the idle screw but, if you can tell me if you kept it at default that should be good enough.

Wait one more question, I'm pretty sure his spur gear was set at deafult but, when I checked it, felt a little tight but, it seemed like there was a little bit of play like there's supposed to be so I felt like it was set ok and didn't need further adjustment. If your spur gear is set correctly then well your performance better/faster? I'm new to this hobby but, the other 2 shockwaves that I have been tuning I adjusted those spur gears myself. Maybe this time I should keep it at default it's not too tight, or try to get it tighter? I think usually i'm trying to do looser meshes but, not too loose (at least that's what I'm trying), will a tigher mesh make your car go faster than a looser mesh?

Where did you find the 4 turns in as a starting point. I know Redcat has a number somewhere. I've read it on this forum before. I thought it was something like 3.5 turns. But I understood it to mean 3.5 turns out after turning the HSN in until lightly seated. I do know one thing for sure. If you have a good idea of how an engine should run, and then all of a sudden it's running like hell on wheels, responding like you've never see before,one of two things has happened. You have an air leak causing the engine to run extremely lean, or you've adjusted something to run extremely lean.

As far as setting the LSN and idle, yes the LSN should not really effect your running except for response leaving the line. I think last time with your first Shockwave you just misunderstood some of my responses to your posts and mistakenly turned the wrong needles. You should be able to break in and run by simply leaning your HSN as you go and then eventually you can lean you LSN for a better low end response. The idle should be in the ball park, you just may need to turn it in a bit when breaking it in as the rich setting of the HSN tends to favor stalling.

The spur adjustment will not give you a noticeable difference in speed. It just keeps you from shredding spur gears.

I had brought out the HSN to flush with the sleeve and then turned in 4 from there. I think even in the video tutorial they mention 3, maybe I'm doing it too much but, I remember on my first the fuel was burning up too quickly and then I ended up finding the point around 4 where it would run for 15 min. About the customers car that was running like hell on wheels I suppose it's possible then they might have already messed something up the thing is that when I was looking at the clutch bell it looked like there was some kind of black/puprlish color to it, I guess you could say like if something had burnt, I had no idea how it got like that or what they did and when I got it the remote had the throttle trim turned to max. though when I ran it and it was running crazy I had fixed the throttle trim to middle and told them to keep it there. I'm not sure then but, I wish mine would run that fast lol but, not if it means something is wrong with it. I don't think I did anything to make it any more lean than the other two I've worked on except leaving the idle and LSN at default. I have another to setup today so I'll see how it goes, try to keep those at default and only adjust HSN and see what happens.

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ORIGINAL: Dads like rc too

Where did you find the 4 turns in as a starting point. I know Redcat has a number somewhere. I've read it on this forum before. I thought it was something like 3.5 turns. But I understood it to mean 3.5 turns out after turning the HSN in until lightly seated. I do know one thing for sure. If you have a good idea of how an engine should run, and then all of a sudden it's running like hell on wheels, responding like you've never see before,one of two things has happened. You have an air leak causing the engine to run extremely lean, or you've adjusted something to run extremely lean.

As far as setting the LSN and idle, yes the LSN should not really effect your running except for response leaving the line. I think last time with your first Shockwave you just misunderstood some of my responses to your posts and mistakenly turned the wrong needles. You should be able to break in and run by simply leaning your HSN as you go and then eventually you can lean you LSN for a better low end response. The idle should be in the ball park, you just may need to turn it in a bit when breaking it in as the rich setting of the HSN tends to favor stalling.

The spur adjustment will not give you a noticeable difference in speed. It just keeps you from shredding spur gears.

Ok, as long as you have a good understanding of where to reference your needles, you should have no problem. I just wanted to make sure you didn't read a post on here where someone was seating the HSN, then turning it out 4 turns, and you doing it backwards. I think by now you've probably become very comfortable with adjusting your carb, so do what works best for you.

My new Redcat engines right out of the box have been very simple to break in and run. I've just fired them up after checking my throttle control and they've just run their idle tank as set from factory. I have backed my HSN out a little to really get that fuel spitting out of the exhaust. Sometimes they stall, not a huge deal at this point. Usually just bumping up the trim at this point will keep it running through its first idle tank. I'd leave the idle alone for now since after a few tanks you'll be leaning the HSN which is going to bring your idle up a bit anyway. Usually even set extremely rich these engines will still run all the break in tanks, remember though you do want them to heat up a little to expand the sleeve, this is the whole point of the break in. You don't want to beat on it right away, but just puttering around at 1/4 throttle for 5 tanks with the temps below 200 will not get you much performance either.

i follow the break in directions from the video tutorials which consists of 5 tanks, first one is just letting it run idle, next 2 1/4 throttle then 3rd half throttle etc. i was going full throttle after the break-in.

how about if the nuts are on too tight on the wheels can that slow it down? since i remember doing that yesterday and i think when i got them super tight that it was difficult to roll the wheels i tried that right now as well tightening the nuts on the wheels since i'd rather it be secure than fall off and i got the feeling when it was getting too tight that it was getting harder to roll, wasn't rolling as smoothly so i backed out a couple turns so it's not all the way tight. is it just in my head lol ? can you tighten it in all the way and it will still roll easily?

i follow the break in directions from the video tutorials which consists of 5 tanks, first one is just letting it run idle, next 2 1/4 throttle then 3rd half throttle etc. i was going full throttle after the break-in.

how about if the nuts are on too tight on the wheels can that slow it down? since i remember doing that yesterday and i think when i got them super tight that it was difficult to roll the wheels i tried that right now as well tightening the nuts on the wheels since i'd rather it be secure than fall off and i got the feeling when it was getting too tight that it was getting harder to roll, wasn't rolling as smoothly so i backed out a couple turns so it's not all the way tight. is it just in my head lol ? can you tighten it in all the way and it will still roll easily?

Yes the wheels can be in a bind if the wheel nuts are too tight, just like the steering if the steering linkage is over tightened. This is why it's critical to do a quick check before running out of the box. You don't have to completely disassemble the car, but if I were doing a quick set up for a customer, this is what I'd do in front of them so they could see how to do it.

Check my spur mesh, if it's good, partialy remove one engine screw at a time and drip a drop of loctite on it and run it back in. If its not right, show them how to adjust it and what they're feeling for.

Put a screwdriver on all screws going into plastic and make sure there tight.

Remove all wheel nuts and loctite, show the customer how to tighten without over tightening and binding the hubs.

Remove the steering servo linkage and make sure you can manually turn your wheels without the linkage binding. If its tight, go over the steering linkage and find the bind.

Show them about rubber banding your battery pack and making sure you have a good connection at the plug.

Show them what the trim adjustment is for, and what it is used for.

These steps will take 10 minutes and will give the customer a good first experience and will keep them from showing up at your door every day trying to figure out these basic problems.

I don't know if I'm over thinking it or after seeing that one from yesterday run like hell on wheels I'm trying to get mine to do that and it doesn't feel like it has that kick and I keep feeling like I'm trying to find the sweet spot but, not able to. Or maybe I've seen it run so many times that I'm just getting used to it and already ready to move up to a more powerful nitro. Since everybody still stands around and I get a crowd and everybody is like "wow" when they see it run and comment on how fast it's going.

I think I might have messed up something else, the thing is that I have a narrow piece of straight road that's not too long, I guess you can think of it about the width of a street alley behind your driveway maybe a little wider but, not that much. So, what I do is I go at full throttle in a straight line and when reach the end of the road I'll press the brakes hard and turn the wheel so it kind of slides on the concrete around. I think I did this too many times today since there's a rod that connects to the wheel to a round bearing type thing and that rod disconnected from it so when you steer that wheel can't turn, so I connected it back but, the thing is that if I take off at full throttle now it swerves right and left at take-off and then I have to kind of straighten it out or keep it straight with the steering. When I pick it up and check it manually and steer left/right it seems fine so I'm not sure what the issue could be here, only thing I thought is that maybe the nut has loosened up so that when it takes off at high speed the wheel starts wobbling? I didn't get to check this as I thought of this on the way home. I mean it's not that bad, I actually drive it like that steering left/right now it makes it look like it'sburning rubber lol but, of course if a nut is loose or something I don't want to leave it like that,it would be better if I could fix it back to the way it was, maybe I shouldn't drive it like that at full speed then brake it hard and do a hard turn to make it spin around or slide across, though I think it probably grabs some people's attention.

Are you talking about the steering link rods that just snap into place on the little ball end? The ends can wear and loosen up a bit letting the steering linkage slop around. Also make sure the servo saver isn't too loose as well. The last thing to check is grab the wheel and see if it moves in and out like your wheel nut is loose "only it's not". If you have a lot of in and out play at the wheels, take them off and check the steering knuckles where the pivot ball ends screw into the control arms. If the set screw backs out a little, it will let the whole steering knuckle assembly wiggle in and out.

Are you talking about the steering link rods that just snap into place on the little ball end? The ends can wear and loosen up a bit letting the steering linkage slop around. Also make sure the servo saver isn't too loose as well. The last thing to check is grab the wheel and see if it moves in and out like your wheel nut is loose "only it's not". If you have a lot of in and out play at the wheels, take them off and check the steering knuckles where the pivot ball ends screw into the control arms. If the set screw backs out a little, it will let the whole steering knuckle assembly wiggle in and out.

ok thanks i'll try that. yes it must be the steering link rods, since they are definately the ones that snap into place since that's how re-connected it. this is a new nitro took it out of the box and broke it in just today so i hope it didn't wear out that quickly but, i'm probably running it harder now since i'm used to the speed and what-not and i pretty much run it contionously from 10am-5pm. though i've ran the previous two just as much and not have this happen but, i guess it's just one of those things like I said i'm probably running it harder now that i'm getting used to it.

Are you talking about the steering link rods that just snap into place on the little ball end? The ends can wear and loosen up a bit letting the steering linkage slop around. Also make sure the servo saver isn't too loose as well. The last thing to check is grab the wheel and see if it moves in and out like your wheel nut is loose "only it's not". If you have a lot of in and out play at the wheels, take them off and check the steering knuckles where the pivot ball ends screw into the control arms. If the set screw backs out a little, it will let the whole steering knuckle assembly wiggle in and out.

ok thanks i'll try that. yes it must be the steering link rods, since they are definately the ones that snap into place since that's how re-connected it. this is a new nitro took it out of the box and broke it in just today so i hope it didn't wear out that quickly but, i'm probably running it harder now since i'm used to the speed and what-not and i pretty much run it contionously from 10am-5pm. though i've ran the previous two just as much and not have this happen but, i guess it's just one of those things like I said i'm probably running it harder now that i'm getting used to it.

Don't forget this stuff is made out of plastic, you could have got a loose one out of the box. I bet it's more likely those set screws I mentioned. Those hex head set screws are what keep the steering knuckles or links attached to the pivot ball ends. They're a touchy adjustment. Slightly loose and they shake in and out, slightly tight and the steering binds.

I got a temp. guage and I was wondering if you knew what temperature the engine should be at during break-in and when it's running normal, and if it gets a higher than a certain temp does that mean it should be retuned to lower the temp. I believe i read somewhere that weather conditions also have an influence, and out here in Texas it's already starting to get pretty hot, during summer it's going to be burning hot. So would the temp of the engine be higher than normal in this case, and if so would I keep it as it is and not try to lower it?

200-215 degrees F is best temperature for break in just got to remember that run around 20% nitro with one that has a higher oil content to lubricate properly during break in and also your leaning and fattening will affect temperatures in any motor during a run

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ORIGINAL: rcenth

I got a temp. guage and I was wondering if you knew what temperature the engine should be at during break-in and when it's running normal, and if it gets a higher than a certain temp does that mean it should be retuned to lower the temp. I believe i read somewhere that weather conditions also have an influence, and out here in Texas it's already starting to get pretty hot, during summer it's going to be burning hot. So would the temp of the engine be higher than normal in this case, and if so would I keep it as it is and not try to lower it?

regardless... i live in arizona their really isnt a hot state i know you have alot of humidity in TX but that adds moisture into the equation just dont focus so much on temp as too as much as how it is running because usually when temp becomes a variable the car will also operate differently usually either running very lean which will run temps up or rich which will keep temps at a constant but you lack lots of response you wanna keep it a hair rich in heat and lean in cold from my experience but i may stand corrected

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ORIGINAL: rcenth

ok is that regardless of weather conditions? what if it's burning hot outside, will that raise the temp of the engine if so, does it need to be adjusted to be brought back down?

regardless... i live in arizona their really isnt a hot state i know you have alot of humidity in TX but that adds moisture into the equation just dont focus so much on temp as too as much as how it is running because usually when temp becomes a variable the car will also operate differently usually either running very lean which will run temps up or rich which will keep temps at a constant but you lack lots of response you wanna keep it a hair rich in heat and lean in cold from my experience but i may stand corrected

Quote:

ORIGINAL: rcenth

ok is that regardless of weather conditions? what if it's burning hot outside, will that raise the temp of the engine if so, does it need to be adjusted to be brought back down?

Maybe in Arizona it doesn't get that cold, but here at the beach the temps will swing 20 degrees in the fall and winter. Living on the ocean, i'm sure I'm in a more moist or humid environment, but when the temps drop my engine is very very lean and runs like a bat out of hell. I have to richen up when running below 55 degrees. As the temps rise I have to lean out again. As far as normal running temps go, anything below 230 degrees and your just not getting the performance you should get out of your engine. Yes, it might last forever, but you should find an area that will give you good performance and still have dependability. I run my SH engines on the hot side. 250-260 degrees let these engines really give you that good response. As far as reliability goes, I've had my small block since Oct of 2011 running like this with no problems. I've run my big block like this since Jan of this year without any problems either. I won't argue that the cooler you run, the longer it will last, but you still want these engines to scream.

No totally agree but reliability doesn't necessarily come down to just engine temps my cars are soaring in temps not just cause of the heat but I run far beyond safe limits even on my electric cars I'm making water cooled systems for the esc's but when it comes to somebody else's cars always recommend basic specs I have an sh .21 that gets way up in temps hot enough melts things but that's also changing the nitro ratios and less oil and motor has lasted for about a year now but I'm also an rc dealer so I push limits far beyond to know what the products I sell are capable of lasting for someone else that purchases them from me...